Nahid out to leave his mark as genuine match winner

BSS, Dhaka:

The upcoming Sri Lanka series could shape fast bowler Nahid Rana’s career as a genuine match winner for Bangladesh after he hogged the limelight with his lightning pace.

The young fast bowler was the answer as the team management of the Bangladesh was searching a pacer with raw pace.

With Bangladesh’s pace bowling department continuing to be impressive over the last couple of years thanks to Taskin Ahmed’s rejuvenation and the arrival of pacers like Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Tanzim Sakib and others, they lacked in sheering pace. Nahid gave that dimension to make the bowling a potent one.

“He is our X factor, because of the pace,” Bangladesh Head Coach Phil Simmons said when he first saw Nahid in action. “If he stays fit, he can unsettle any batter with his pace on any kind of wicket.”

In his little career, Nahid has already made debut in all format for Bangladesh. While his debut in T20 format against United Arab Emirates was not eye-catching one, still he claimed two wickets in his trademark style-by unsettling the batters with extreme pace. However he leaked runs generously that to some extent ruined his bowling figure.

But his Test and ODI debut was somewhat the whole Bangladesh expected. He generated pace and embarrassed the batters regularly with relentless attack and pace. He had already played seven Tests and took 23 wickets while in four ODIs, he so far grabbed five wickets.

But it is his Test credential that delighted Bangladesh most. The traditional mantra of Test is to take 20 wickets to win the game and in Nahid Rana, Bangladesh are believed to get a bowler who could well complement his other colleagues to take all 20 wickets of the opponents.

In his maiden Test against Sri Lanka, he took three wickets in the first innings and two in the second, finishing with five wickets, a number that’s not bad for a debutant. Bangladesh lost that Test by 328 runs but Nahid’s impressive debut brought a fresh breath of air into the side’s pace attack, which badly sought an express pace.

He didn’t do quite well in his second Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi but in his just third Test, also in Rawalpindi he produced a match-winning spell to take four wickets in the second innings as Bangladesh won the Test and swept two-match series against Pakistan. In his just sixth Test, he grabbed his maiden five-for against West Indies as Bangladesh won their first Test match on Caribbean Island for the first time since 2009.

The stat showed in his short career, he had already won two Tests for Bangladesh that was the testament of his immense skill and determination.

“Test is the format which I like most out of the three formats. it’s the most prestigious,” he told recently. ‘I will continue to play Test cricket as long as I am fit.” Nahid said he tried to maintain him, knowing that the fast bowlers always tend to be injury-prone.

“I have maintained the things as better as it is possible. I try to eat properly and work hard to maintain myself.” “It is always challenging but when you can overcome a challenge, it will give you satisfaction and confidence.”